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Preparation
Table Setup Find an area of the table that is convenient for all players to reach. Designate this space the "common play area”, and populate it with the following: * Action Cards and Political Card in separate decks (both shuffled). * Leave room for Active Laws * Ground Force and Fighter supplemental counters * Trade Goods tokens * Non-Home system planet cards * The 8 Strategy Cards side-by-side, in order, with the Active side up. * If playing with 4, 7 or 8 players (only), include the 9th Strategy Card Prospect. * Objective decks (Stage I and Stage II), shuffled, in separate decks * Leave room for revealed objectives, Special Objectives Voice of the Council, Magisterial and Imperial, Artifact Cards * Victory Point Track Game Setup Complete the following sequence to begin the game: * Determine the galaxy type: traditional, Star-by-Star, or pre-set map. * Decide on the number of Victory Points required to win (default 10), and agree on which optional rules to use. * Have each player roll a die. Take seat positions around the table going clockwise from high to low. * Deal two random Secret Objective cards to each player. One of these must be discarded during later. * Race selection: * Starting with the highest rolling player and going clockwise in turns, each player may in turn choose any available race to command, or announce pass and wait * Remaining races are dealt out randomly to players who didn't select a specific race, with the following advantage; they may be kept hidden and secret until the beginning of the first Strategy Phase. Upon receiving a random race, the player may reject it and draw another. A third draw is allowed, but this race must be immediately revealed. * Create the Galaxy (or bid for Home System locations, if using a pre-set map). * Optional: After the map (or bidding) is completed, for practical reasons, players may now change seats so that they are aligned with their HS positions. * Bid for Speaker Token: The player with the lowest roll may now place a bid on the Speaker Token (this bid may be 0 TG). Going counter-clockwise, players may either pass or bid over. The winning bidder is assigned Speaker (i.e. takes the Speaker Token) and 1 TG, and all other players then receive a number of TG equal to winning bid plus 1 TG. * The Speaker may now set the orientation of the Rotation Cycler (clockwise or anti-clockwise). * Reveal the first 3 Stage I Objectives and 3 Preliminary Objectives. * Reveal hidden races, discard Secret Objectives and deal 2 Political Cards to each player. * Note that it is important that the unused Secret Objectives are placed back in the game box, so that no one sees which objectives are not used in the game. * All players choose a different coloured set of plastic miniatures and take their races’ Command Counters and Control Markers. These miniatures (units) and counters form the players’ “Reinforcements”. * Have each player place one of their Control Markers on the Victory Point Track at “1”. * All players place their "setup units" (as indicated by their Race Sheets) and Leaders on their Home Systems. If a Home System contains several planets, any Space Dock, Ground Forces, PDS and Mechanized Units may be placed among them according to the player’s wishes. Leaders may be placed on ships or planets. All players then take a Technology Sheet and mark their starting technologies on it. * All players now take their starting Command Counters from their reinforcements, placing them on their Race Sheets as follows: 2 Command Counters in the Strategy Allocation area, 3 Command Counters in the Command Pool area, and 3 Command Counters in the Fleet Supply area (with the "Fleet" side up). * Set out Distant Suns & Final Frontiers counters on all planets (not Trade Stations) except HS planets and Mecatol Rex (DS), and all Regular Systems that do not contain planets (FF). * Players will begin playing the game by starting with the Strategy Phase of the first game round!